Erica’s Blog

OK, I don’t have any yarrrn pr0n shots for you, so instead I give you some food pr0n, inspired by Andy’s Diner.

Last night’s dinner, before and after cooking….

These are my favorite kinds of dinners to make — just throw some meat and a bunch of veggies in a roasting pan, stick it in the oven, and cook it “low and slow”….Oh, in case you can’t tell, that’s a pork loin, red new potatoes, one each of green, red, orange & yellow bell peppers, half an onion, and a few chopped garlic cloves, drizzled w/olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some “Two Buck Chuck” merlot.  Yummy!

This poor dog.  What a rough life she has.  Tell me…do you think she’s enjoying herself?

She did NOT, however, enjoy the bath Thing Two and I gave her yesterday.  I did NOT enjoy cleaning the tub afterwards, either.

OK, so I didn’t post for four days, and not a ONE of you emailed me to find out where I was?  Hmmm….

Well, anyway, here I am with a bunch of updates.  I’ll separate them out into individual posts, though, so you don’t have to wade through one really long one.

Button, button, who’s got the button?  I DO!  Yupp.  Blog.com has made some changes that enable me to have html code in the sidebar, so now I can put up buttons and web ring code.  Yippee!  Now I get to join all those cool cliques…I mean blog rings…out there.  I’m still arranging them in a more logical manner (takes a WHILE), but check ‘em all out!

Presenting Miss Sedona Jane, 6lbs, 13oz, 20 inches long, born late Friday night….

I got to hold her for quite a while as she slept.  Such a sweet little girl.  And she’s got hair!  And blue eyes!  It was all so familiar:  the “football hold”, the pillows on each side, under the knees, on the lap, behind the head, the trying a few times before she got on just right, hobbling to the bathroom, incision hurting when you laugh.  Ah yes, I remember it well. 

We took them a big bouquet (thank you, Paul’s Flowers!) of lots of different kinds of pink flowers with one white rose to symbolize Gerome.  They were really happy to see us, and we were so happy for them.  Now, to keep praying for Suzanne’s “little bean”….

Must.  Use.  The.  Remaining.  Petro.  Must.  Make.  Room.  For.  Fabulous.  Yarn.  From.  Italia.

In case you can’t tell, it’s a log cabin dog blanket.  Or it could be to line the box for the feral cats MarkyMark & Bobcat rescue.  Whatever.  Actually, the cream and the green are a cotton/rayon blend, but the white and the blue are horrible polyester that does NOT feel happy in my hands.  Eh, the furballs won’t know the difference.  I was originally just going to use the cream and green, but it wasn’t nearly big enough for Sammy, and I ran out of green before I could do the last green rectangle, hence the weirdo color scheme.  Like I said, the animals won’t know the difference.

J is for the Jolly Juveniles in my family.  [NOTE:  I did not take any of these pictures myself, so I take no responsibility for the photo quality.]

And a couple of representative videos of Thing One and Thing Two.  Enjoy….

P.S.  Considering WHERE Thing Two was when she shot that video, I’m lucky the subject matter isn’t grosser…

Flash!  Mark and Gabriele had their baby last night!  Here are the details, such as I know them right now (I’ll update when I have more info):

Mazel Tov, youse guys!

Not much to say.  We’re all healthy now (I think).  Babysitting co-op tonight, and I’m already tired — uh, oh.

Found this great blog yesterday.  If you want to see some drool-worthy food pr0n, check out Andy’s Diner.  This guy can cook my family a meal any time (and oh, the pictures of Italia!).  How I found the blog is a medium-long story, but Hubby actually had lunch with Andy once.  Way back in 1991 or early 1992 when Hubby was living in Portland, OR, he gave Andy’s sister a ride down to the Bay Area.  When Hubby dropped off Lily at her parents’ house, her mom asked him to stay for lunch, and there he met Andy.  Kind of funny. 

And Andy, you’re not old, dude….

The pictures are mediocre, but hey — I’m sick, OK?  The detail shots were even worse; I’ll spare you those.  I really enjoyed making these.  There will definitely be more in my future.  What a perfect special but inexpensive gift, and what a great way to try out new lace patterns w/o committing to some big project!

EDITED TO ANSWER STARCH QUESTION(S):  Sprayed them with profuse amounts of “heavy duty” spray starch, let them dry.  Sprayed ‘em some more and let ‘em dry.  Sprayed ‘em some more and let ‘em dry.  Ironed them.  Sprayed ‘em some more and let ‘em dry.  All this after washing, blocking & weaving in ends.

 #10 crochet cotton on US size 1’s.  Left = dayflowers; Right = crystal pattern, both courtesy of Barbara Walker.

 KnitPicks Shimmer on US size 2’s.  VanDyke lace panel from 365 Stitches a Year perpetual calendar.